Interim
Joint Committee on Judiciary

Minutes
of the<MeetNo1>3rd Meeting

of
the 2009 Interim

Justice
Center

100
Justice Center

Hopkinsville,
KY

<MeetMDY1>September 4, 2009

The<MeetNo2>3rd meeting of the Interim Joint
Committee on Judiciary was held on<Day>Friday,<MeetMDY2>September 4, 2009, at<MeetTime>10:00 AM, Central
time in Hopkinsville, KY<Room>. Representative John Tilley, Chair, called
the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.

Representative Tilley called the meeting to order, the roll
was called, and a quorum was not present. Chief Circuit Judge John Atkins
welcomed the committee to the Justice Center and commented that this was the
first time that the Judiciary Committee had met in Hopkinsville. Judge Atkins
then introduced various local officials including the County Judge Executive,
Mayor, and other judges who were in attendance at the meeting. Senator Seum
introduced Senator Ken Winters and Senator Joey Pendleton who were in
attendance at the meeting. Representative Bell introduced David Ogles of the
Jail Tracker organization and Chief District Judge Sam Potter from Warren
County.

The first speakers were Senator Reynolds and Judge Sam
Potter, Chief District Judge in Warren County Judge Potter spoke about 3
topics. The first was problems which have been caused by provisions in 2009 RS
HB 369 which increased the felony theft limit from $300 to $500 but which
included a provision that a person who was ordered to make restitution for a
theft could not have a driver's license until the restitution was paid in
full. The bill contained a provision for a hardship license. Judge Potter,
who indicated that he was speaking for the District Judges Association on this
matter, commented that a person who had written bad checks, then had their
driver's license suspended, could not get to work to pay the required
restitution and that the provisions for the hardship license were difficult to
implement and administer. Judge Potter commented that many of these persons
would simply drive anyway without a license and without insurance. Then if the
person ran a stop sign and were cited that extra police, prosecution, defense,
court, and jail expenses would be involved and the restitution still would not
be paid. Judge Potter suggested that the proper remedy for failing to pay
restitution was contempt of court, not the procedure demanded by HB 369.
Representative Tilley commented that loss to retail merchants through theft and
bad checks was $22 million per year. Judge Potter commented that the present
law makes extra work for circuit clerks and indicated that there were two
solutions to the problem. One was to make the loss of license permissive and
the other was to eliminate the loss of license provision entirely. Of these
choices, Judge Potter indicated, that the District Judges Association preferred
elimination of the provision entirely.

The second problem cited by Judge Potter was the problem of
jurisdiction between the Family Court and the District Court in the issuance of
domestic violence restraining orders. Judge Potter cited a situation where
family court issues against a juvenile, the juvenile then slaps his mother and
the case then goes back to juvenile court. Judge Potter suggested that the
family court be permitted to handle these cases as well. The third problem
cited by Judge Potter involves the newly designed E-citations. When a police
officer issues an E-citation, even for a prepayable offense, the citation
automatically generates a court date. The problem is that people show up for
court and do not prepay the citations thus taking court time and their own time
when this is unnecessary. Judge Potter suggested that the citation be
redesigned to properly reflect how a prepayable citation should be handled and
that if the citation is prepaid that a court appearance is unnecessary. Judge
Potter urged legislators to talk to judges about bills that affect them during
the legislative process so that some of these problems might be avoided.

The next speaker was Justice and Public Safety Cabinet
Secretary J. Michael Brown. Secretary Brown presented a detailed explanation
of how the disturbance began in dorm 6, spread to dorm 2 and then to dorm 3.
Inmates set fire to these buildings and to the food service building, the
canteen, the medical building, the visiting building, and various other
facilities. Secretary Brown indicated that the inmates in dorm 5, the honor
dorm exited their dorm and stood in front of cameras to prove that they were
not involved in the disturbance. Secretary Brown indicated that a core group
of 50-60 inmates were involved in the arson and disturbances. The outer
perimeter of the facility, outside the fence, was secured by the Kentucky State
Police and local police while the inner perimeter was secured by Department of
Corrections emergency response teams. The old hospital buildings were outside
the fence and were not damaged in the fire. The buildings that were damaged by
the fire were largely destroyed and will have to be demolished and rebuilt.

Secretary Brown observed that the disturbance began about
6:30 PM, that fire departments responded promptly but were prevented from
making close entry to extinguish fires until after the inmates were controlled,
firefighting was done from outside the perimeter fence. Secretary Brown
indicated that approximately 700 inmates were moved early in the morning of the
next day to other state and private prison facilities and 482 inmates remained
at Northpoint in existing dorms. Secretary Brown indicated that the priority
for replacement of buildings will be to replace the food service and medical
buildings which may be larger than the previous buildings and will be built to
the current building and fire codes. Secretary Brown indicated that insurance
will cover part of the cost of rebuilding but may not cover the cost of
enlargement of the buildings and that at present there is no estimate of costs
involved or a time line for completion of the new buildings. Secretary Brown
indicated that the Friday incident may have been the result of an incident on
Tuesday when a gang of Hispanic inmates attacked other inmates which resulted
in the prison being "locked down". The lock down was being eased on
Friday and controlled movement of inmates was being permitted when the incident
occurred.

Representative Bell observed that he has heard for years
about conditions at Northpoint and indicated that he wanted a full after action
report on the incident. Secretary Brown responded that Northpoint is a medium
security prison where the criteria for being sent there is inmate behavior,
that Northpoint like most older prisons has open bay dorms which are double bunked,
lacked sprinklers, and the only actual cells are in the segregation unit, and
that it is more difficult to control inmates in such a setting. Senator Gibson
observed that there were 34 employees on duty at the time the incident started
and asked how long the warden had been there. Secretary Brown answered that
the number of employees was slightly above normal and that the warden had been
there for a couple of years. Senator Gibson asked if extra personnel were
normal during a lock down to which Secretary Brown answered, yes. When asked
about current conditions, Secretary Brown indicated that the inmates were being
fed sack lunches and fast food as part of a temporary food service with the
intention of providing better meals as soon as possible. When asked if the 700
prisoners moved to other state and private facilities have overcrowded those
facilities, Secretary Brown responded, yes. Senator Westwood asked if
insurance would pay 100% of the cost of replacing the buildings and facilities
to which Secretary Brown responded that this is currently the subject of
negotiation but that insurance should pay the basic costs plus transportation
costs. Secretary Brown indicated that all new construction will meet current
building and fire code standards but that current prison facilities, built
under old codes, do not contain sprinklers.

Secretary Brown then presented a report on the situation at
the Otter Creek private prison which is operated by the Corrections Corporation
of America and which has been the subject of recent complaints about sexual
assaults by guards on the female inmates at the facility. Citing the need to
comply with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, Secretary Brown indicated
that the facility had two buildings, one which housed Hawaii inmates and one
which housed Kentucky inmates. Secretary Brown observed that assaults against
Hawaii inmates were not reported to Kentucky even though the facility is
located in Kentucky. Following inmate complaints, Secretary Brown explained,
Hawaii has moved its female inmates to prisons in other states.

Secretary Brown observed that the incidence of incidents
reportable and actionable under the Prison Rape Elimination Act were much
higher at Otter Creek than they are at the Kentucky Correctional Institution
for Women, the state operated facility for females, that the ratio of female
correctional officers was much higher at the state facility, and there were
allegations that staff at Otter Creek who had complaints filed against them in
the Hawaii dorms were transferred to Kentucky dorms without telling Kentucky of
the previous complaints. During this period, the contract with the Corrections
Corporation of America expired and the state extended the contract temporarily
without full renewal according to Secretary Brown. Speaker Stumbo and various
other legislators sent a letter to the Governor requesting that the contract
with the Corrections Corporation of America not be renewed. Secretary Brown
indicated that he has sent a letter to the Corrections Corporation of America
and to Speaker Stumbo detailing the demands of the Department of Corrections
which include: hiring a female director of security, female staff and officers
providing direct supervision of inmates, female security staff ratio of 40% or
greater, conduct and implement an action plan with increased use of cameras to
cut down on incidents which is approved by the Department of Corrections,
uniform reporting of any and all sexual contact, and follow the PREA
standards. Secretary Brown observed that the state does not have the
facilities to house these female inmates if the private facility closes and
that housing the female inmates in jails is not practical since county jails
were not built to house female inmates. Senator Westwood asked if the 7 story
building at Northpoint could be renovated to house female inmates to which
Secretary Brown indicated that renovation of the building will cost $14 million
and take several years. When asked if Corrections Corporation of America will
accept the state's new demands for a new contract Secretary Brown indicated
that he felt they would.

Secretary Brown then introduced Deputy Secretary Charles
Geveden and urged the committee members to read the bills proposed as part of
the cabinet's legislative agenda for the 2010 session which have been provided
in the member's folders.

The next speaker was Mr. David C. Ogles of the JailTracker
program of the Digitech Corporation in Glasgow, Ky. Mr. Ogles presented a
powerpoint presentation in which he indicated that the JailTracker programs are
designed to do more with less manpower in handling web enabled reporting and
information handling, automation of repetitive tasks such as cell checks,
integration with external systems, and integration of systems between jails
using the JailTracker system. Part of the system is designed to provide
financial management systems which provide double entry accounting, proper
allocation of deposits and fees, automated collection of fees, and agency
billing and allocation. The system also provides risk management such as
alerts on inmates which would inform a jail taking an inmate of any prior
problems and special needs the inmate had previously, tracking and
documentation of incidents, and similar matters. Mr. Ogles indicated that in
one jail alone 9 man hours per day were eliminated in answering questions from
attorneys, families, and others as to who was in jail and what they had been
charged with since the JailTracker system provides this information on-line
through the internet so that all a person has to do is go to the jail website
to find the information rather than having a jail employee search the records
to find the information. Mr. Ogles indicated that the company was founded in
1988 and has been serving the public safety market since 2002, that about 1/2
of the jails in Kentucky either have JailTracker programs in effect or in the
process of installation and that the programs are in use in 5 other states.

The next speakers were Nancy Mitchell and David Jolly, upcoming
Director of the Tennessee Valley Authority police who spoke in favor of a bill
which will be sponsored by Senator Winters, previously presented to the General
Assembly, to give full state-wide police authority to the TVA police. Mr.
Jolly spoke of a court case in which a TVA police officer stopped a person for
driving under the influence, called the Benton Police to take the person to
jail, and then had the court dismiss the case because the TVA police officer
had no authority to stop the driver in the situation. Mr. Jolly observed that
the TVA police can be a valuable back-up for rural police, and can respond more
rapidly in some instances because they may be nearer to the incident. Mr.
Jolly indicated that the TVA police all must complete the Federal Land
Management police training offered by the Federal Law Enforcement Training
Center at Glyncoe, Georgia. Mr. Jolly asserted that the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center is "internationally accredited". Mr.
Jolly called attention to a list of Kentucky law enforcement agencies and
groups which supported the legislation. Representative Rudy asked if the
Kentucky State Police supported the legislation to which Mr. Jolly indicated
that the Kentucky State Police helped in preparing the language for the bill.
Senator Winters indicated that Western Kentucky is short of law enforcement
personnel and that the bill is needed. Senator Jones asked if the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center provided training on Kentucky law to which Mr.
Jolly responded that it did not do so but that the agency provided this
training. Senator Jones explained that he was concerned about providing
federal law enforcement officers with Kentucky jurisdiction when they were not
trained on Kentucky law. Senator Jones commented that the TVA police already
had Kentucky jurisdiction to operate in counties in which TVA owned property.
Representative Bell commented that he was concerned about extending Kentucky
jurisdiction to federal officers and asked if other states in which TVA
operates do not provide statewide jurisdiction to which Mr. Jolly replied that
Kentucky and Georgia do not provide such jurisdiction. Representative Riner
commented that when these issues have come up in the past that he has included
a question to his constituents as to whether or not they favored giving federal
officers Kentucky jurisdiction and that the response was an overwhelming, no.
Other members commented that the state can exercise control over Kentucky
officers but cannot do so if Kentucky grants jurisdiction to federal officers
and that federal officers have in the past overstepped their jurisdiction.

The next speaker was Ms. Angela Criswell of the Bluegrass
Prevention Center, accompanied by Stephen Contos of Kentucky Alternative
Programs which rents ignition interlock devices to drivers and Michael Meeks,
legislative agent for Kentucky Alternative Programs who spoke in favor of the
House Committee Substitute for 2008 RS Senate Bill 34 which required the
installation of ignition interlocks with driver recognition features on all
vehicles owned by a person convicted of DUI. Ms. Criswell, citing statistics
from the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers organization, indicated that eleven
states require first time convicted drunk drivers use ignition interlocks, that
ignition interlock requirements in New Mexico reduced drunk driving recidivism
by 65% since 2002, that alcohol involved crashes are down by 31%, and that
fatalities are down by 38%. Ms. Criswell further commented that the New Mexico
program cost a driver $2.25 per day but that for every dollar invested in an
ignition interlock the public saves $3. Ms. Criswell commented that in
Kentucky the State Police estimate the economic cost of alcohol related crashes
in 2007 was $326 million and that including quality of life losses the cost to
Kentucky and taxpayers was over $1 billion. Ms. Criswell indicated that
revoking a drunk driver's license was ineffective and that 50% to 75% of drunk
drivers continue to drive without a license. Mr. Contos of Kentucky
Alternative Programs distributed a sheet of information which he indicated
dealt with comments made during the 2009 regular session with regard to
objections to SB 34's House Committee Substitute. Mr. Contos indicated that
the current lack of service points for ignition interlock devices in Kentucky
reflects a lack of demand for the devices and that providers will increase the
number of service points, that rental of an ignition interlock device costs
about $3 per day with an installation fee ranging from $50 to $150, described
how the devices work to prevent subverting the device, and indicated that eight
device manufacturers are presently approved by Kentucky. Senator Clark
indicated that Kentucky needs to reduce other causes of accidents as well as
driving under the influence. Senator Jones indicated that in the past he has
supported a drug driving bill and supports DUI legislation. Senator Neal asked
if the proposed legislation would create a monopoly to which Mr. Meeks replied,
no. Senator Seum asked if everyone using the vehicle would have to blow into
the device whether they were the convicted drunk driver or not to which the
reply was, yes. Other legislators asked if the legislation applied to all
vehicles owned by the drunk driver to which the response was, yes.
Representative Tilley indicated that there should be a provider of interlock
devices and service for interlock devices within 50-75 miles of each driver.